Beverley
Beekeepers' Association
The
local Beekeeping Association for East Yorkshire
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Extracting
and Bottling Techniques
Clearing
Honey Supers of Bees
On
the hive, honey supers are obviously full of bees. To
remove the bees from the super so that you can take the
frames to the extraction room you need to place a clearing
board with a bee escape below the honey box. At night the
bees will move down through the escape into the brood
chamber. The escape will prevent them returning to the
honey box the next morning. Whole books have been written
about "clearing" and lots of different techniques, boards
and escapes exist for you to try. Each beekeeper has his
preferred method.
Hygiene
Wherever
this is done the room should be bee-proof and attention
given to ensuring equipment is clean and hygienic. Remember
you are handling a foodstuff that you may offer for sale to
the public. Read up the governing regulations.
Uncapping
To
get at the honey we must first remove the wax seal from
across the top of the honey filled honeycomb. Use a knife
or an uncapping fork. Hold frames over a tray or dish. Many
expensive devices are available to make this easier and
less sticky.
Centrifugal
Extraction
Most honeys can be extracted by spinning the frames of
honeycomb in an extractor. There are two types; radial or
tangential. Tangential is cheaper but radial is quicker and
less messy. These can be simple manual affairs or motor
driven variable speed models.
Set honeys cannot be extracted in this fashion and will
require cutting out, mashing, and gently warming to return
the honey to a liquid state. The wax remains solid and
floats to the surface allowing it to be separated from the
honey.
Heather honey cannot be extracted in a spinning extractor
without special techniques. It is more usual to use honey
presses for heather honey.
Straining
The
extracted honey will contain bits of bee and a fair amount
of wax. Remove these by straining first through a fine
sieve and then some fine nylon cloth. Fine straining will
require the honey to be warm.
Settling
When
honey is extracted it gets lots of air bubbles in it. Allow
the honey to settle for 24 hours before bottling it.